Knitted fabric



Dec. 10, 1935. A. GRAENZ 2,023,882

KNITTED FABRIC Filed April 23, 19-32 Patented Dec. 10, 1935 PATENT OFFICE KNITTED FABRIC Alfred Graenz, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Non-Run Fabric and Machine 00., Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 23, 1932, Serial No. 607,027

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a-novel and improved form of blank made from a knitted fabric, and more particularly to a stocking blank made of the kind of fabric which, together with the method and mechanism for making the same, is more fully described and claimed in my copending applications Ser. Nos. 567,555 and 604,474, which have now matured in Patents 1,856,053 and 1,862,514, respectively.

The novel features will be best understood from the following description and the annexed drawing, in which is shown a selected embodiment of the invention and in which:

V Fig. l is a view of a stocking blank having my invention embodied therein.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a completed stocking which may be formed from the blank shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view on a greatly enlarged scale showing one portion of an edge of the blank shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing another portion of an edge of the blank appearing in Fig. l.

The blank shown in Fig. 1 is preferably made throughout the leg I and the top or instep 2 of the foot, of a fabric of the non-run character which, together with the method and means for making the same, is more fully described in my aforesaid copending applic tions.

of successive courses and w es of loops, the part of the stocking blank of gr test width being knit first and then, by a narrowing operation, the blank is made progressively narrower. In the prior art, it has been found necessary to form a special selvage along the portion of the blank where the narrowing operation is taking place. One feature of the novel fabric which I have devised is that this selvage can be dispensed with, and I can obtain a blank in which the fabric maintains the same character right up to the edge of the blank. In other words, the fact that the body of the stocking blank is of substantially non-run character throughout makes it possible to place the edge of the fabric anywhere that it is desired to have it, this being accomplished by the means and method more fully described in my copending application, Ser. No. 604,474, Pat ent No. 1,862,514.

The blank of Fig. 1 comprises a portion having edges 3 which are substantially parallel to each other, and one of which is shown on an enlarged scale in Fig. 3. The body of the fabric is of the kind more fully disclosed and claimed in my aforesaid copending application, Ser. No. 567,555, Patent No. 1,856,053 and consists of courses and wales of loops having at closely .run character.

spaced intervals locking zones 4, each of which in this embodiment is composed of two adjoining courses 5 and 6. The course 6 is a course of plain loops, and the course 5 is laid as a course of plain loops and then certain selected loops 1 are dis- 5 placed from the course 5 and from wales in that course into the course 6 and into adjacent wales therein. These loops I form locking loops or locking stitches, and the zones 4 are closely enough spaced throughout the body of the fabric so as 10 to render the entire fabric substantially of a non- The displaced loops 1 occur closely enough in each course 6 so that throughout the body of the fabric substantially every wale is provided with a multiplicity of closely spaced locking loops or stitches, all in a manner more fully described in my aforesaid copending application, Ser. No. 567,555, Patent No. 1,856,053.

In Fig. 3, the knitting operation may be carried right up to the edge 3 of the blank, the courses being laid successively in the usual way except with the formation of the locking stitches by the displaced loops. It will be seen that the wale 8 which forms the edge Wale of the blank is of the same character as the other wales in the body of the fabric, in that it has at closely spaced intervals therein loops 1' which are displaced into an adjacent wale in the body of the fabric so as to prevent a run in the edge wale.

In the particular embodiment of the fabric shown, the 'loops 1 are displaced some in one. direction and some in the other, although, as pointed out in my aforesaid copending applications, the invention is not limited to any particular arrangement of displaced loops. It will be seen from an inspection of Fig. 3 that the edge 3 is self-sustaining and no special selvage is needed, the edge being of a form which can be readily used in forming a seam, without the provision of any such special selvage. 40

In knitting a fabric where it is desired that it shall be of non-run character substantially throughout its extent, it has been found advantageous to displace the loops in some locking zones to the right and to displace those in other locking zones to the left. It has been found that this makes a more elastic fabric which is less apt to break, because if loops are displaced in one direction, they decrease the elasticity of the fabric in a direction normal to the direction in which they extend. By displacing some loops to the right and some to the left, for example, by alternately displacing loops to the right for a short length of fabric and then to the left for another 5 short length and repeating the arrangement, a fabric is provided which will be of uniform elasticity in both directions. Thus while the invention may be practiced with different arrangements of the displaced loops, a certain advantage is found to exist in the alternate arrangement just referred to and shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

Referring now to Fig. 4, I have shown therein.

an edge portion of the blank of Fig. 1, where the blank is narrowed. This particular portion, is designated 9, Fig. 4 showing the blank as being reversed from the position occupied in Fig. 1 in order to place the blank in the position which it occupies as it comes from the knitting machine. Assuming that the blank is of full width at the locking zone formed of two courses In and II, and that the course I I has been formed while the thread carrier of the knitting machine has been traveling towards the left. of Fig. 4, then on its return travel, the carrier will lay the thread in the plain course l2, traveling towards the right of this figure. In traveling towards the right, however, the carrier is stopped by mechanism known in the art before it reaches the end of the course I l, and thus certain loops in the course II are dropped, these loops being indicated at I3. Similarly, by regulating the travel of the thread carrier, other dropped loops l4 may be left at selected intervals along the edge portion 9 of the blank, either singly or in groups of two or more.

There are sufficient of the locking loops 1 in each wale so that the edge of the fabric, even with the dropped loops, is maintained firm enough to be used in forming a seam, and therefore'it is possible to knit an entire stocking or other article of this type of fabric. The edge 9, as plainly shown in Fig. 4, is formed in steps, with each step v formed of dropped loops, which is the result of making the courses adjacent the step and on opposite sides thereof of unequal lengths. Between step, however, the edge 9 is formed of an edge wale substantially parallel with the other wales in the body of the fabric in the same way that the edge wale 8 of Fig. 3 is constructed. In other words, the narrowing edge portion 9 may be considered as formed of a succession of edge wales, each of which is parallel with the other wales throughout the body of the blank, but which are separated by the steps formed of the displaced loops. It will also be noted that each edge of the fabric, regardless of the body of the fabric, is formed of a wale or wales having locking stitches or loops disposed at such close intervals therein that no special selvage is needed, and therefore, as noted above, the edge portion can be used in making a seam without the necessity of forming any special selvage. edge 9 in the portion of the blank which is being narrowed, nevertheless it is to be understood that a similarly constructed edge 9' may be disposed opposite thereto.

For practical reasons it may be desirable. to form, the foot of a stocking of ordinary knitted fabric composed of plain loops as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, wherein the novel non-run fabric is used in forming the leg down to the commencement ii of the heel tabs l6. These heel tabs may be knit in the ordinary way as described in my copending application 604,474, Pat. No. 1,862,514 at the same time that the top or instep 2 is being knit of the novel non-run fabric. Similarly, the foot I! may be knit of ordinary fabric, also as described in my copending application 604,474, Pat. No. 1,862,514.

From the above it will be seen that I have devised a novel form of blank, more particularly a stocking blank, which may be made of knitted fabric, without the necessity of forming a special While in Fig. 4 I have only shown one selvage which, as is well known in the art, results in the formation of so-called Fashion Mar which'come from the necessity of using a special selvage. The fabric is of substantially uniform character right up to the edge of the blank, and this edge may be placed wherever desired, which, of course, is of immense advantage in making a simplified blank.

While I have shown a selected embodiment of the invention, it is of course to be understood 10 that variouschanges in details may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, and I therefore do not intend to limit myself except by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A blank of knitted fabric formed of courses and wales of loops, said blank having an edge non-parallel to said wales to fashion the blank and the portion of the blank including said edge being knit with a single thread, the direction of edge being determined by a multiplicity of short edge wales comprising the edge and separated by steps formed of one or more dropped loops of single thread in courses occurring at said steps, the courses in which said dropped loops occur being located in locking zones of non-run character extending substantially from edge to edge parallel to the courses of the fabric, whereby said dropped loops will not cause runs in said fabric.

2. A blank of knitted fabric formed of courses and wales of loops, with spaced locking zones formed in part of selected loops displaced from one course into an adjacent course and into an adjacent wale in said course, said displaced loops being so placed throughout the fabric that substantially every wale in the fabric has therein a multiplicity of closely spaced displaced loops, said blank having an edge non-parallel to said wales to fashion the blank and the portion of the blank including said edge being knit with a single thread, the direction of said edge being determined by a'multiplicity of short edge wales comprising the edge and separated by steps formed of one or more dropped loops of single thread in courses occurring at said steps, the courses in which said dropped loops occur being located in said locking zones, whereby said dropped loops will not cause runs in said fabric. 1

3. A blank of knitted fabric formed of courses and wales of loops, with spaced locking zones formed in part of selected loops displaced from one course into an adjacent course and into an adjacent wale in said course, said displaced loops being so placed throughout the fabric that substantially eve'ry wale in the fabric has therein -a multiplicity of closely spaced displaced loops,

said blank having an edge non-parallel to said wales to fashion the blank and the portion of the blank including said edge being knit with a single thread, the direction of said edge being determined by a multiplity of short edge wales comprising the edge and separated by steps formed of one or more dropped loops of single thread in courses occurring at said steps, the courses in which said dropped loops occur being located in said locking zones, whereby said dropped loops will not cause runs in said fabric, some of said zones having the selected loops therein displaced to the right and other of said zones having the selected loops therein displaced to the left.

ALFRED GRAENZ. 

